Growing Straight

Broken hand and surgery to follow weren’t on the agenda for my oldest boy as school was starting. Oh, the love/hate of football.

However, don’t get me started on all the things you learn from being broken. It takes you to school in a split second, doesn’t it? This is the “after” x-ray once his surgeon got him put back together. It is now perfectly aligned and healing straight.

Take away from this injury:
When you break, you don’t necessarily grow healthy and straight by accident. Oh, you might heal, but you might heal crooked or misaligned. You keep that from happening by tethering yourself to something strong and immovable. In surgery, you use a screw, a rod, or a plate. In life, you anchor to Christ Jesus and the ancient, immovable Word of God.

Just felt compelled to share because God has given me such personal clarity in the visual of this x-ray…

We will not drift towards health and wholeness in this current world climate. Or any climate, to be honest. We do not hope for the best while floundering unattached. No, we anchor to something that will not let us sway or bend. We affix our minds and hearts to the immovable. There is one secure, immovable anchor. We only grow straight because of Jesus.

I’ve been quite convicted lately of my daily input. Social media, TV, podcasts, etc… It’s good to be informed. I don’t need to live blindly in this world. However, It’s not good for God’s anchoring truth to be crowded and drowned out by clamoring opinions. Even good opinions aren’t always Godly opinions. I am a work in progress in this arena, and likely, so are you. Let’s not beat ourselves up, but let’s start somewhere. Anything receiving more attention than God’s eternal truths in our life will cause anxiety and restlessness. His truth brings security and peace to our minds. That is how we know the difference.

Let’s anchor to the truths that are actually truths so that we move forward with straight thinking and perfectly aligned hearts. Christians, of all people, do not need to be tethered to agendas that mess up our growth. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “ For we have the very mind of Christ.”

Father, you are the only reliable anchor in this world. Help us hold tightly to you. In Jesus name, Amen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• Mysti Chustz has been following Jesus since she was six years old.
• She is a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. Her most favorite roles are being wife to Philip and mama to Coleman, Mary Lamar, and Clay.
• If one verse was used to describe her life, it would be Philippians 1:6. “Be confident of this, the One who starts the work in you is faithful to complete the work in you.”